


It Came, a Floweret Bright

by joy_shines



Category: Arthurian Mythology, Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Genre: Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Multi, OT3ish, Questionable Geography, Wibbly-Wobbly Space and Time, Yuletide 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 11:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2810519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joy_shines/pseuds/joy_shines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The men in green may have forsaken England, but some of their circles and doorways yet endure. Jane happens upon one during a Yuletide stroll.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Came, a Floweret Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abbichicken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbichicken/gifts).



“Back so soon, Jane? You’ve been gone barely a quarter of an hour. Was the cold too bitter?” Edward’s voice drifted through house as I stood in the doorway, attempting to slow my heart’s frantic beating. It had been bitterly cold, indeed, but I shook with another sort of unease, though I was loath to reveal that to my dear husband. Dear as he was, he had little patience for dreams and visions, and all too much concern for what he perceived as my delicacy of constitution and mind, and I had no desire to spend the evening being cosseted. Moreover, I was puzzled: surely Edward was having a jest, or perhaps he had dozed while I was out? Truly, I had hurried home for fear that he would think I had come to harm. 

Once my heart had quieted to a more sedate pace, I hung up my cloak, and took a seat by the fire. “No, Edward - it is very cold, but it is a fine, beautiful night. But why do you tease me? I was gone for more than an hour, I’m certain.” He laughed, indulgent, “What, then, were you journeying with your own people Janet? Wandering in the fae lands, where time runs differently than in the mortal realms? Look at the clock, my fairy - John told me not two minutes before you returned that it was going on five.” I turned to the clock on the wall - indeed, it was as he had said - three minutes past five. I gave an involuntary shudder, and crossed the room to my husband, catching his strong hand in both of mine.

He turned toward me with an expression of dismay, “Jane, are you distressed? The damnable cold can certainly make a quarter of an hour seem like half a day, at this season.”

“Sir, I am discomfited - I am certain that I was gone for an hour or more...and your remarks about fae realms cut rather too close to the mark.”

“What is it, Jane? What have you seen to put your nerves in such a state?”

“You will only laugh, Edward - you will not believe me.”

“Try me, my dove. I solemnly promise to neither laugh nor jibe until your tale is done. As to believing, I can make no promises - but it pains me to see you so distraught.”

“Very well, sir, but I shall hold you to your word. I was walking in the woods, considering what is yet left to do in preparation for Mary and Diana’s arrival two days hence - for you know, sir, I have extensive plans for all manner of festivity…”

“I’d like to know how I could be ignorant of it,” my gentle husband growled, “as you have insisted on greenery in every room - much good may it do your blind partner! - and any number of unholy rituals taking place in the kitchen.” 

“And as I was walking,” I continued, unperturbed by his pretensions of ill-humour, “I saw a light in the distance, shining in a glade. I went towards it, for I thought perhaps some traveler had met with trouble. Instead, though...sir, perhaps you are aware that tonight is the longest night of the year?”

“Yes, my elf, this is the solstice, when the night is longest.”

“Are you aware that it is said that the boundaries between our world and - as you call them - the world of ‘my people’ are particularly thin at this time?”

“So it is said, in the country and in the small towns, yes.”

“Well, sir, dear Edward, the light in the glade was neither torch nor campfire - as I approached it, I saw that the glade was lit by strong sunlight, as that of a May afternoon. I saw, too, that the ground within the glade was covered with green grass, and spring flowers. Stranger still, when I set foot inside that circle of light, the air all about me was warm and pleasant as any day in May. 

No, sir, do not interrupt - I saw a kneeling man, dressed all in armor, as the knights of old must have worn. He was muttering what I believe to be Latin prayers, and his face was distorted with the passion of his devotions...or, so I thought. He appeared much worn by time and care, as did the woman who lay asleep at the far side of the glade. I think she must have been very beautiful when she was younger, though I do not think that the knight was ever so very handsome.”

“Presently I shall become jealous, Janet, if you go on about this armored fellow’s looks. I happen to know your fondness for ugly, elderly men, you know.”

“Nonsense, sir. You are quite enough for me on that front. Were I to look elsewhere, I should perhaps seek out someone quite young and handsome, just for a change of pace.” He sputtered at this, but let me continue. 

“I was about to turn and leave, as I was not certain that my senses were not deceiving me, but at that moment, the man looked up from his prayers, and addressed me. His speech was difficult to understand, as it matched his apparel, but it became clear that he thought me an angel or fairy.”

“Truly, Jane, I shall think you are deliberately teasing me if you go on in this way. This fellow does show singularly good sense, though, to recognize your true nature on first sight.”

“Hush, sir.  He was frightened of me, as you never have been. In fact, you could learn proper reverence from the poor Chevalier Mal Fet, as he called himself. I reassured him that I was no apparition, no vengeful spirit - I tried to tell him that I was but a mortal woman, but I don’t think he believed me.”

“A man of very good sense, indeed. I don’t believe you either, you know, particularly when you rush in with such strange tales on your lips.” I promptly pinched him, to remind him of my solid and substantial nature.

“I asked him why he was troubled, and if he and his lady were in need of help (though, truthfully, I thought they had the better of it, being in the warm and sunlight).

He replied to me, ‘Indeed, I am most grievously troubled. I have sinned greatly, and, yet, I cannot seem to stop sinning. The lady who lies yonder is my queen, my...love. She is dearer to me than all worldly goods, and yet, I betray my God and my beloved king by my presence here. Oh, Arthur, how I have wronged thee!’ He began to sob, deeply.

I began, then, to recognize the nature of this...phenomenon. My hours in your library, pouring over Sir Thomas Malory’s works have been useful, you see. I knelt before him then, on the warm grass, ‘I know your grief, sir - I know what it is to love, when the object of your love is already bound to another. I tell you, it is no sin to love - but it is not right to remove your lady from her rightful husband.’

‘I did not seek this - we kept our love in secret, for we love Arthur even as we love each other, and would not have him exposed to ridicule. But we have been found out, found out by evil, traitorous men, who would tear Arthur’s fair kingdom asunder. My lady, the king is obligated to execute our queen - to burn her as an adulteress! We have sinned, by the laws of man and perhaps God, too, and mayhap we should be strong enough to face death for our choices - but I cannot allow her to do so. More than that,’ he continued softly, “I cannot allow Arthur, damn his honorable nature!, to slay his wife. It would destroy him. He counted on me, you see, to do what he could not, and protect us all.’

I was taken aback, sir, at the thought that the king might be complicit in Lancelot’s rescue of his queen, so I pressed him, ‘Your king, then, he knew that you loved his wife?’ He turned blazing eyes upon me, saying “How could he not know? I tell you, we were a cord of three strands, bound to each other in love and duty. This world,’ and his voice cracked again, ‘this world, ‘tis not made for a love like ours. The priests say we are created  Imago Dei , in the image of the Creator, but we are forced into pairs - we only wanted to be a Trinity.’

Sir, in that moment, he  did remind me of you, in all your passion, on that night...on the night I left you.” Edward started, and made to speak, but I hushed him, “And I felt the same compassion for his plight as I did for you. It was not in my heart to condemn him, knowing his impossible circumstances. 

‘It seems then,’ I told him, ‘that you have done the most you could to fulfill vows made in love. Though I do not understand your arrangement, I know that a heart can be large enough to give true devotion to more than one creature. You have tried to do rightly by your king, even when that crosses the law of man - I cannot judge you for that. I do not think your trials are through, but I am sure that your heart will guide you truly to the end.’  I leaned down, planting a kiss on his brow, before drawing away. I looked about, and saw that the sunlight pervaded all my eyes could see, and I became frantic at the thought that I might never find my way out of this strange, sun-drenched land and back to you. 

I turned to go, not bothering with farewells in my distress, but he called out to me: ‘My lady - I know not who you are, or what realm you call home, but I am grateful to have met with you this day. I hope that one day I may find such peace as I see in your countenance when you speak of your lover. God bless you and keep you!’

‘And you as well, good Sir Lancelot!’ I cried, as I raced from the glade. Fortunately, sir, as soon as I left the glade, the world around me was once again cold and dark, all the woods covered in winter’s snow. Even the glade itself was no longer lit, and I could see no evidence of the knight, save only a patch, where he had knelt, of the lovely May flower called the Star of Bethlehem.”

Here, I paused and placed the sprig I had plucked into his hand. He raised it to his nose, and inhaled. “That is no winter evergreen, Jane.” He sighed, and pulled me closer to him. “You know, Jane, I am a skeptic at heart, and place no faith in the men in green, despite my teasing. But the Almighty has already made His power manifest in my life by bringing you back to me - so perhaps my credulity can be stretched. The men in green may have forsaken England, but it seems that, perhaps, some of their circles and doorways endure. I am only grateful,” and here he tossed aside the flower, gathering me fully into his lap, “that they did not keep you as their rightful queen, but instead sent back my good fairy to see me through this longest night.” He kissed me then, with the thorough passion of which he was so capable, and whispered in my ear, “Wilt thou watch with me till the morning, Janet? That we may greet the newborn sun together?”

“Even so, sir,” I said, delighted by his belief and the constant joy of his love, “It is well, then, that your bedroom faces east.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> My Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere are based largely on _The Once and Future King_ , as that version of the characters tends to tug most poignantly on my heartstrings. However, it's not specific enough that I feel I should tag this as TOFK fic. This is intended to be set during Lance and Gwen's flight to Joyous Gard after Lance rescues her from execution. I, erm, can't say that the would've passed by Ferndean...but they might have. It IS between far-north Joyous Gard and Arthur's more southerly court. 
> 
> Dear abbichicken: I hope this was acceptable use of Arthurian characters in a crossover setting. I am rather surprised at myself that I didn't end up just running with Arthurian PWP for you, but this idea crawled into my brain and latched on. Hopefully it's to your liking!


End file.
